a systemic approach to parental alienation assumptions and clinical practice with individuals and families

Authors

  • Sérgio Alberto Bittencourt Maciel Coordenadoria Psicossocial Jurídica, Tribunal de Justiça do Distrito Federal e dos Territórios (TJDFT/ COORPSI), Brasília, DF https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0578-9229
  • Josimar Antônio de Alcântara Mendes University of Sussex, Brighton/East Sussex http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8230-1998
  • Luciana de Paula Gonçalves Barbosa Núcleo de Assessoramento às Varas Cíveis e Família, Coordenadoria Psicossocial Judiciária, Tribunal de Justiça do Distrito Federal e dos Territórios (TJDFT – NERAF/COORPSI), Brasília, DF https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0567-1407

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.38034/nps.v30i69.611

Keywords:

Parental alienation, Conversational processes in therapy, Systemic approach, Clinical psychology

Abstract

After almost twenty years of its implementation in Brazil, one can observe that the parental alienation’s assumptions went beyond the Judiciary and have affected therapist’s practice. Narratives of parental alienation have become part of clients’ and psychotherapists’ discourses. Taking that into account, this paper critically and systemically discusses those narratives. A qualitative case study of three clinical vignettes is presented to discuss how the conversational agreements established between psychotherapists and clients in the clinical context can engender, sustain or reframe parental alienation narratives as well as implications of this for the psychotherapeutic process. The discussion indicates that parental alienation allegations are used to classify or explain behaviours that are usually present in marital and parental disagreements that regards to developmental issues and cause suffering. In addition, the professional’s position in the dialogical construction of clinical interventions and the notion of observable reality in psychotherapy are questioned.

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Author Biographies

Sérgio Alberto Bittencourt Maciel, Coordenadoria Psicossocial Jurídica, Tribunal de Justiça do Distrito Federal e dos Territórios (TJDFT/ COORPSI), Brasília, DF

Psicólogo, psicodramatista, terapeuta de casais e famílias, especialista em abordagem familiar no contexto judicial (UnB), coordenador substituto da Coordenadoria Psicossocial Judiciária (TJDFT).

Josimar Antônio de Alcântara Mendes, University of Sussex, Brighton/East Sussex

Doctoral researcher na University of Sussex, Reino Unido. Especialista pelo Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) – Toronto/Canadá. Psicólogo, terapeuta sistêmico de casais e famílias, mestre em Psicologia Clínica e Cultura (UnB).

 

Luciana de Paula Gonçalves Barbosa, Núcleo de Assessoramento às Varas Cíveis e Família, Coordenadoria Psicossocial Judiciária, Tribunal de Justiça do Distrito Federal e dos Territórios (TJDFT – NERAF/COORPSI), Brasília, DF

Psicóloga formada pela Universidade de Brasília, CRP 01/7789. Especialista em Violência Doméstica Contra Crianças e Adolescentes pela USP/SP, com formação em Abordagem Familiar no Contexto Judicial. Especialista em Psicologia Jurídica. Analista Judiciária, especialidade Psicologia, desde outubro de 2000. Supervisora do Núcleo de Assessoramento às Varas Cíveis e de Família da Coordenadoria Psicossocial Judiciária do TJDFT – NERAF/COORSPI.

Published

2021-09-02

How to Cite

Alberto Bittencourt Maciel, S., Antônio de Alcântara Mendes, J., & de Paula Gonçalves Barbosa, L. (2021). a systemic approach to parental alienation assumptions and clinical practice with individuals and families. Nova Perspectiva Sistêmica, 30(69), 62–77. https://doi.org/10.38034/nps.v30i69.611

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Artigos